Fresh Air Could Kill You!

Glacier from boatMount McKinley seen from lodgeMassive amounts of spruces.Another glacier seen from train

Hubby and I visited Alaska in August. Here are a few pictures we took.

What all did we do there? EVERYTHING! We went whitewater rafting (no, I didn’t fall in the water surprisingly) and sorry no picture of that. They had pictures to buy but I wasn’t in a one. Though you could see some of my hair hiding behind the good-looking guide. No, I didn’t have my arms wrapped around his neck, holding on for dear life. But I was hunkered down low enough to stop myself from falling in. It was so much fun! The scenery was breathtaking. Will I do it again? HELL, NO! The wet suit made me look and feel like the Michelin man. Click here if you want to see a picture of him (The Michelin man, not the guide. HA!) – remember, no picture of me in that suit. Thank you, God, for small favors. Pun intended.

During our seven days there, we rode on a train twice, bus several times, van, plane, raft, and boat. Crazy, heh? I call it my plane, train and automobile and boat trip.

Closer to the glacier (top one)Yes, a grizzlyA plane similar to the one I crawled in and out of.SO WORTH IT!Yet another glacier!

One of the most exciting parts of the trip was flying in a small (and I mean tiny) plane around McKinley. It was so beautiful and mind-boggling.

I guess I’ll put more pictures on Facebook to share. I forget how many I took. Over 300 during the whole trip.

So beautiful. We even went 90 miles (end of the road) into the Wilderness on a school bus. Going in we were too fascinated by the wild life and scenery, and it felt like it didn’t take no time. But on the way back, they changed to a “new” bus that nearly shook my brains out. Geez! Everyone was saying, “Huh? Another bear? Forget about it! We want our comfy bed and cushioned chairs, let us get to civilization!” Speaking of civilized, out in the Wilderness, they had places we could stop to use the facilities, rather neat, but gross. They were commodes with holes in the ground. (Made me think of my grandparents’ house when I was a kid.) What can you say? It was the WIL-DER-NESS!

My hubby is in love (with the state). Being the sweet loving supportive wife that I am, I said, “Yes, dear. You can go and live in Alaska . . . if you work throughout the summer.” HA! He knew sending money back home was implied.

We met very few people who actually lived there. Most were from other states. They said they could make enough in the summer (May thru September) to live off the rest of the year. One couple was going to live in Hawaii during the winter months. Whoa!

Anyway, hubby is already planning another trip (I ain’t going). I told him I would be happy to plan a trip to Montana (he wants to go there sooo bad) but me and Alaska have broken up. Beautiful place, but it takes too freaking long to get there.

Funny thing is I want to go to Australia and that’s a doozy. We’ll see.

Oh, speaking of plane. Flying back wasn’t bad. We left at 1:30 a.m. Yep, that was in the morning. We didn’t arrive home until 5:00 p.m. Sure a 3 hrs difference but that’s still 13 hrs.

Flying up there was the pits. A storm hit Dallas-Fort Worth before we landed and we were one of the last planes to arrive. Our connecting flight was cancelled. They lined us up for a direct but didn’t leave until 6 p.m. and that was after arriving there at 8 a.m. that morning. So it took us from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. to arrive in Anchorage.

Anchorage was a pretty city. One thing about the whole time there, my sinuses didn’t bother me one time. It was great breathing fresh, clean, cool, dry air.

I had a great time and met some nice people (hi, Judi and Jerry). Great vacation. That’s the way to do it.

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5 thoughts on “Fresh Air Could Kill You!”

You took my exact dream trip. I had been planning it for over a year then hubby’s job went kaput! Not looking to happen now so please post more pics so I can do it vicariously!!! Sad I’ll never get to take my camera there to visit, but hoping to get to Montana in the near future! Keep having adventures and sharing!

Thanks, Ellen. If you’re on Facebook, I should have some downloaded this weekend. I have a personal page (Carla Swafford – Alabama and should say I’m a romance writer – there are a couple other Carla Swaffords on there) and an Author page (Carla Swafford Author).

Oh, and sorry about your hubby. We had planned this trip over ten years after our last trip there, but that’s how long it took. Just got lucky when it came to a couple of income tax refunds. Lots of saving. That’s how we managed it.

You really should come back with your husband, only this time rent an RV and ‘meet’ some Alaskans. Yes I know we have a funny bathroom (outhouse) but we are always happy to have guests. Oh and the DFW to AK flight I have done that when visiting my grandchildren outside of Dallas, the way to enjoy the flight is to have someone else pay for first class tickets like my son and his wife did for me. Seriously and RV and 10 to 14 days in the state and you will either hate it completely or never want to leave it. I lived in Philadelphia for 48 years and came here to work on a project for four months…before I left I had bought a place for my cabin and have lived in the wilderness since 1996. Thanks for the pictures and posting…..

Oh, no. I do not like RVing. That’s not a vacation. And I don’t camp out. Tried that, and woke up in a middle of a river. Never again. I have to say there is a reason there are more men than women in Alaska and will continue to be that way. 🙂 But I did love my trip. This was our second one there and it’s time to try another state or country. Thanks for visiting me here.